While we’ve been distractedly preparing for the zombie invasion, the Reavers have been walking among us. Okay, maybe they aren’t Reavers, but they are certainly not the same as you and I.

Example number one – I left my favorite store and sat in my parking space messing with the phone and radio before I had to focus on driving. The woman in the car parked directly in front of me, BEEPED her horn at me. I looked around to see if anyone behind me was waiting for my space. Nope. In fact, there were empty spaces all over the parking lot. I looked back at her as she mashed down on the horn in a long, angry BEEP. She glared at me and flapped her hands like I needed to move five minutes ago. I slowly backed out of my space and the crazy lady drove straight through my former parking space and zipped on out of the parking lot. Was the reverse in her car broken or was she just a really bad driver? Either way, that was rude.

Example number two – One very hot day last month, we came upon a man pushing his car. It was a curvy, two-lane road, lined with houses. The only option was someone’s driveway or someone’s lawn. Doug hopped out of our van and helped the man push his car into a driveway that was wide enough for two cars. Before they had all four wheels on the driveway, the owner came out waving her arms and shaking her head. She stood there and argued that she did not want anyone else on HER driveway. The man offered that he just needed to go home and get a friend to come back and help him get the car home. The woman eventually consented with the warning that he had better be back quickly. We told the man to get in our van and we drove him home to what couldn’t have been larger than an efficiency apartment. We went on our way to retrieve a child from school and headed back home. As we drove by the house with the mean owner, we watched in amazement as she instructed a tow truck service to remove the car. It hadn’t even been half an hour since the car was parked in her driveway. Has that woman never had car troubles?

Example number three – While walking in Bethesda, we passed a woman letting her dog walk in an elevated fountain. This struck me as inappropriate, but Sarah went over to pet the dog. My brother politely commented that the dog was beautiful and asked if it was a ___. The woman got angry and snarled her lips to correct my brother. “MY dog is nothing like a ___. This is a purebred ___.” My brother apologized and complimented the dog again but the woman was still scolding us for insulting her dog. Is that normal Bethesda behavior? Southerners love their dogs, but I’ve never had one lose their marbles because I couldn’t identify the breed on the first try.

Example number everything else – What is with the uncontrolled rage spewing forth into blog comments everywhere? Is it campaign overdose? Stock market woes? Early holiday stress? Everyone needs to calm down. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Exhaling should take twice as long as inhaling. Pick your battles wisely. Sometimes, you just have to let it be.